Word Origin & History

shunt early 13c., perhaps from shunen "to shun" (see shun). Adopted by railways 1842 as a verb, 1862 as a noun, and by technicians in the sense of "electrical conductor" from 1863. Medical use dates from 1923.

Example Sentences for shunts

This shunts more or less of the current from the field winding according to the amount of resistance made active by the lever, L.

And as soon as ever he ketches sight of me, he shunts, he does, and goes off like an express train in front of a runaway engine.

That train stops at Peacedale, and at Wakefield she shunts off till the mail passes.

(d) By dividing the current, by one or more branch circuits or shunts around the cell.

By the aid of shunts it is quite possible to make use of very sensitive instruments to measure powerful currents.

They encounter an obstacle which shunts them off towards another centre.

Diagram of wiring of differential circuit with shunts used with resistance thermometers for water-circuit 3820.

Fig. 19 shows the differential circuit complete with all its shunts.

Each Morse circuit will be seen to include, serially, two 50-ohm impedance coils, and to have shunts through condensers to ground.

Variations from 300 to 600 revolutions per minute can be regulated by the shunts, the loss being negligible.